For over fifty years the ministry of African Enterprise has spanned the continent of Africa and other parts of the world. Here we have highlighted some of the key events pertaining to Michael Cassidy and the history of African Enterprise. This includes some of Michael’s personal milestones; African Enterprise’s main missions, conferences, initiatives and projects; the formation of the African teams and support offices around the world; and some key political happenings that impacted the ministry.
1955
- September: Michael Cassidy arrives in England to start his studies at Cambridge University.
- 23 October: Michael Cassidy comes to faith in Christ through fellow student, Robert Footner.
- Billy Graham visits Cambridge for a mission and Michael Cassidy sees proclamation evangelism in action. He finds this deeply inspiring.
1956
- A formative year for Michael Cassidy of being discipled through the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) and his friend, Robert Footner.
1957
- June: Michael Cassidy visits relatives in New York and attends Billy Graham’s outreach at Madison Square Garden.
- Michael was fascinated and moved by what he saw night after night as he attended the meetings. He found that despite the enormity of the arena and the crowd, Billy Graham’s message came across as clear and simple and, above all, personal. It was clear to Michael that God was using Graham to speak straight to the hearts of the many thousands each night.
- On one of these nights Michael heard an inner voice say clearly: ‘Why not in Africa? I want you to do evangelism for me in the cities of Africa’ and he knew at that moment that he had received a call from God.
1958
- Michael Cassidy graduates from Cambridge with a BA Hons in Modern and Medieval Languages.
- In late 1958/early 1959 Michael Cassidy visits Edith and Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri, Switzerland. This was a formative experience where Michael discovered the importance of apologetics in evangelism.
1959
- After his studies in England, Michael Cassidy returns home to Basutoland (now Lesotho) for nine months.
- Michael Cassidy begins his studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. The Lord had provided the money at the last minute for Michael to travel to the USA and attend Fuller which he felt was confirmation that he was on the right path.
- A group of Fuller Theological Seminary students began to pray for Michael Cassidy’s embryonic vision for evangelism in Africa. Fellow student, Ed Gregory, begins to pray with Michael Cassidy for 31 major cities in Africa (one each day of the month) asking God to allow them to minister in them one day.
- At the end of the year Charles Fuller, Founder of Fuller Theological Seminary, tells Michael Cassidy he wants to help get African Enterprise off the ground.
1960
- February: Name “African Enterprise” agreed upon and finalised.
- 9 May 1960: First African Enterprise letters sent out. Michael Cassidy’s journal records: “Sent off my first African Enterprise letters. This may prove to be quite a spiritual Rubicon for me. Once committed to this it will be difficult to turn back. But I go forward sure of the Lord’s ultimate sovereignty and not fearful of having Him block these plans if they are not in His will. I do not fear mistakes because I know that he who made no mistakes never made anything.”
- Bruce Bare came on board as a support to African Enterprise. Over the years he travelled to Africa 57 times at his own expense to encourage and advise the teams.
1961
- 11 January: First African Enterprise Board Meeting with Bruce Bare as Chairman.
- Dr Charles Fuller, Founder of Fuller Theological Seminary, offers the services of his own personal secretary and a small loan to get African Enterprise started.
- In the summer Michael Cassidy and Ed Gregory visit the major cities in Africa. They visited Tunis, Casablanca, Dakar, Conakry, Freetown, Monrovia, Abidjan, Accra, Lagos, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Brazzaville, Harare, Pietermaritzburg, Maseru, Blantyre, Zomba, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Asmara, Cairo, and Johannesburg.
- 18 July: It was during this trip that Michael Cassidy went for a long solitary walk along the beach in Liberia. Suddenly on impulse, Michael drew a vast outline of Africa in the sand. He scrawled: ‘Claimed for Jesus’ inside it. Michael then walked fifty steps, asking the Lord for one year of ministry for every footprint in the African sand.
- African Enterprise receives its first invitation to launch a citywide mission in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the following year.
1962
- Early on in the year, Stephen Lungu, a member of the Black Shadows gang, who later became International Team Leader of African Enterprise, was converted at a tent meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.
- 5 August: Nelson Mandela arrested just outside Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
- 13 – 25 August: African Enterprise’s first citywide mission to Pietermaritzburg led by Michael Cassidy, Paul Birch, Don Ehat, Dick Peace, Chris Smith who were all students at Fuller Theological Seminary at the time.
- After the “Mission to ‘Maritzburg”, the team visited many people including Alan Paton and Peter Brown, founders of the South African Liberal Party. On the north coast of Natal, Michael Cassidy and Dick Peace met in secret with Chief Albert Luthuli. The rest of the team were unable to join the encounter because having more than two people with the chief at any one moment would violate the cruel banning laws under which he had to live. “The answer for South Africa”, Luthuli told the evangelists, “is the way of the Master.”
1963
- June: African Enterprise becomes a legal corporation. Eugene Parks (Executive Director); Bruce Bare, Rose Baessler, Dr Carlton Booth, Dr John Crouthamel, James Gorton, Bill Gwinn, Paul Winter (Board Members); Michael Cassidy, Paul Birch, Don Ehat, Dick Peace, Chris Smith (Team Members).
- African Enterprise team members finish their studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and begin to prepare to leave for Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, where they have chosen to open their first office.
1964
- Michael Cassidy and Paul Birch cross Canada on a promotional tour to raise prayer and financial support for African Enterprise.
- September: African Enterprise team helps out in Billy Graham’s mission to Los Angeles, California.
- The African Enterprise team sets sail for South Africa.
1965
- Ladysmith Mission: According to the law, black people were not allowed into the Ladysmith City Hall, so they were seated in a separate room where they listened to the talks through speakers. This was the first and last time African Enterprise would ever agree to hold meetings under such restrictions. Michael Cassidy later wrote: “Forever the memory of it sends shivers of embarrassment and shame through me. To think we allowed ourselves to be thus compromised.”
- African Enterprise launches Volunteer Intern Programme (VIP).
- Vryheid Mission, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- Harrismith Mission, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- African Enterprise’s first university mission to the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
- 11 November: In Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Ian Smith declared his Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain.
- African Enterprise Canada established by volunteers to support the ministry in Africa. No full-time staff until 1989.
1966
- Michael Cassidy and Nicholas Bhengu attend the Berlin Congress, organised by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, along with hundreds of Christians from all over the world. Michael was asked to present a paper on “Political Nationalism as an Obstacle to Evangelism.” Three Dutch Reformed leaders forbade Michael to deliver the paper, calling him a traitor to the country. Michael delivered it regardless producing a great commotion in the South African group.
- Six month mission in Lesotho – Freedom ’66.
1967
- March: New African Enterprise team members appointed: Abiel Thipanyane (turning down a job as the official interpreter to the Lesotho Parliament to the team’s amazement), John Tooke (graphic designer and Public Relations) and Shirley Reynolds (youth worker, singer and guitarist). The team approached Ebenezer Sikakane (of Union Bible Institute in Pietermaritzburg) and planned to bring him on board full-time by the end of 1968.
- April: Four-month long Spearhead youth mission in Cape Town, South Africa.
- July: Two-month long mission to Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Mission to Teacher’s Training College, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Five American interns arrive to help out at African Enterprise during their summer holidays.
1968
- Michael Cassidy leads African Enterprise’s first-ever private school mission to Michaelhouse, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- African Enterprise mission to Hilton College, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
1969
- “Crossroads” six month mission to Nairobi- first mission outside of Southern Africa. African Enterprise’s first use of “stratified evangelism”.
- Festo Kivengere agreed, on Michael Cassidy’s invitation, to join African Enterprise and build up a team in East Africa.
- August: Mission to the University of Cape Town.
- Michael Cassidy and Carol Bam meet during the Mission to the University of Cape Town.
- September to October: Michael Cassidy on major ministry tour in USA.
- 16 December: Michael and Carol Cassidy get married.
1970
- Abiel Thipanyane and Ebenezer Sikakane spearhead Soweto Mission.
- 300 churches involved in Mission ’70 to Johannesburg.
- After Mission ’70 the African Enterprise team in South Africa prayed about what the next big step should be. They felt a strong impression from God to branch out on a new venture: “The Word came through to us so clearly to try and call together the whole Church of South Africa to speak to the nation.” This led to the Durban Congress in 1973 and then the South African Christian Leadership Assembly (1979).
- Michael Cassidy and Festo Kivengere tour the USA together. Their theme is “God has reconciled us to himself and given us the ministry of reconciliation” (1 Corinthians 5:18).
- Michael Cassidy’s booklet, Decade of Decisions, published.
- Second mission to Wits University.
1971
- January: In a military coup Idi Amin seizes power of Uganda deposing Milton Obote.
- African Enterprise team members Dick and Judy Peace leave South Africa to go back to America.
- Festo Kivengere establishes the first East African team and board in Uganda.
- Michael Cassidy studies under Bishop Stephen Neill during a three month sabbatical in Kenya.
- Michael and Carol Cassidy visit Uganda to spend extended time with Festo Kivengere, Zeb Kabaza, Mary and John Wilson, and rest of the African Enterprise team.
1972
- August: Bonginkosi feeding-scheme is formed by Daphne Tshabalala and Barbara Davies in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It later became part of African Enterprise’s ministry (in 1977) and grew rapidly.
- Festo Kivengere made Bishop of Kigezi, Uganda.
- David Peters joins the African Enterprise team in Pietermaritzburg.
- Mission to Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
- Preparations for South African Congress on Mission and Evangelism in Durban.
1973
- 13 – 22 March: African Enterprise’s South African Congress on Mission and Evangelism takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- 17 March: First ever non-racial evangelistic rally in King’s Park Stadium with Billy Graham (50,000 present).
- At the South African Congress on Mission and Evangelism the African Enterprise team meets Gary Strong, Chris Sewell and Phineas Dube from Zimbabwe. Strong and Sewell were later Team Leaders in African Enterprise Zimbabwe and Phineas Dube Board Chairman.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, Where are you Taking the World Anyway? published.
- On a visit to Uganda Michael Cassidy is asked to leave because his passport stated he was a “missionary”. Idi Amin said missionaries were no longer welcome in the country.
- John Wilson becomes Deputy Regional Team Leader of the East African team under Festo Kivengere.
1974
- First Pan-African Team meeting in Glion, Switzerland (team members from Southern and Eastern Africa meet).
- Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism: (Festo Kivengere a main speaker; Michael Cassidy led the seminar on University Evangelism). Some 2,700 participants from over 150 nations gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, for ten days of discussion, fellowship, worship and prayer. The result was the Lausanne Covenant. African Enterprise subscribes to the Lausanne Covenant and takes it as its constitutionally enshrined statement of faith.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, Prisoners of Hope, is published.
- I Will Heal Their Land is published. This included the content of talks from the South African Congress on Mission and Evangelism and was edited by Michael Cassidy.
- African Enterprise Mission to University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, The Relationship Tangle, published for use in Pinetown Mission (South Africa) and as text book for the second Mission to ‘Maritzburg the following year.
- Malcolm and Bertha Graham join African Enterprise. Malcolm Graham soon became the administrative linchpin of African Enterprise internationally.
- November: Festo Kivengere leads an East African team to the UK, where for the first time ever black Christians from Independent Africa conducted a series of citywide evangelistic meetings in major cities, including Manchester, London and Belfast.
- Michael Cassidy speaks at symposium on evangelism at World Council of Churches, Geneva.
1975
- While setting up the African Enterprise Mission to Fort Hare University (“the home of black power”) Michael Cassidy and Maurice Ngakane meet in secret with Steve Biko, then living under banning orders.
- Mission to Fort Hare University is postponed. “If you come here the campus might so explode that we would have to close it down,” said the Rector of the university.
- March: Abiel Thipanyane leads the first African Enterprise mission to a hospital in Scott Hospital, Morija, Lesotho.
- Festo Kivengere’s book, Love Unlimited, published.
- African Enterprise launches ‘Maritzburg ’75 mission.
- The Australian African Enterprise Support Office opens, although it only becomes a legal entity from 1978 onwards.
- November: Michael Cassidy and Festo Kivengere conduct missions in Nicaragua and Costa Rica at the invitation of local churches.
- December: Michael Cassidy attends World Council of Churches assembly.
1976
- March: Abiel Thipanyane launches a weekly radio broadcast on Radio Lesotho which draws thousands of listeners.
- May: African Enterprise helps and facilitates the Rhodesia Congress on Evangelism in Context in Bulawayo. Michael and team help to draft the prophetic document emerging from the congress which is sent to Prime Minister Ian Smith and all political leaders, whether black or white.
- June: Soweto Riots in South Africa. Michael Cassidy is doing Mission to Rosebank Union Church in Johannesburg when main explosion of June 16 takes place in Soweto with several hundred school children killed. His sermon was on, “O South Africa, O South Africa… If only you knew….” (cf. Luke 19:42; Matthew 23:37).
- December: Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly (PACLA), Nairobi. 800 delegates from 47 countries come together from all over Africa to share perspectives, seek reconciliation, and have time for reflection and evangelistic strategising.
- African Enterprise Kenya Office formed after the Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly (PACLA).
1977
- Archbishop of Uganda and Chairman of African Enterprise’s East African team, Janani Luwum, is assassinated by Idi Amin.
- Festo Kivengere and his wife, Mera, escape Uganda and go into exile for a year.
- Festo Kivengere attends a Good Friday Service at All Soul’s Langham Place in London and struggles through the service trying to forgive Idi Amin: “When peace finally came, it was fresh air for my tired soul. I knew I had seen the Lord and been released; love filled my heart.” (African Harvest, Anne Coomes)
- Bonginkosi feeding-scheme becomes part of the African Enterprise ministry and grows rapidly.
- Ebenezer Sikakane and Festo Kivengere lead large evangelistic meetings in Kumasi, Ghana.
- April: Vryheid Mission, South Africa.
- May: Kearsney College Mission, South Africa.
- Festo Kivengere’s book, I love Idi Amin, written and published with major help from Dorothy Smoker in the African Enterprise USA office.
- African Enterprise formally adopts the Lausanne Covenant as its statement of faith.
- Festo Kivengere and Michael Cassidy conduct missions in Panama City and Balboa.
1978
- “In 1978 alone, African Enterprise found itself (stretched to the very limits) with thirty major invitations to fulfill. So the East African team and the South African team combined for ministry in cities from Cape Town to Cairo and from Monrovia, Liberia to Mombasa, Kenya.” (African Harvest, Anne Coomes)
- 14 March: Australian Support Office is registered as a legal entity.
- April/May: Bridgehead ’78 mission: Festo Kivengere and Michael Cassidy lead the first major African Enterprise Australia mission to Blakehurst and Miranda (southern suburbs of Sydney).
- By August: Bonginkosi feeding scheme is feeding nearly 1,000 children a day in South Africa.
- Michael Cassidy and Gottfried Osei-Mensah publish Together in One Place: The Story of PACLA. Also published is Facing the New Challenges which includes all the major papers of the conference (edited by Michael Cassidy and Luc Verlinden).
- African Enterprise founding team members, Chris and Barbara Smith, leave South Africa to go back home to the USA.
- African Enterprise mission to the University of Zululand.
- African Enterprise Mission to Cairo, Asyut and Alexandria (Festo Kivengere and Michael Cassidy preach together).
- National Christian Leadership Assembly (NACLA) in Zimbabwe. African Enterprise does major set-up.
- African Enterprise Zimbabwe Office formed.
- 21 December: United Kingdom Support Office established.
1979
- 11 April: Idi Amin is forced to flee from Uganda into exile.
- May: Port Elizabeth Mission, South Africa.
- 11 May: Bishop Festo Kivengere, and his wife Mera, return to Uganda from exile.
- 5-15 July: African Enterprise sets up the South African Christian Leadership Assembly (SACLA) in Pretoria which draws 6,000 Christians of every race and almost every denomination.
1980
- “Operation Foxfire” is the name given by the African Enterprise team in Zimbabwe to their new venture for outreach. This is a concept developed by the late Chris Sewell and launched under the leadership of the late Sheckie Masika, consisting of teams of young people going out into rural communities in pairs to teach, preach, pray for the sick and help reopen churches closed during the Bush War.
- Michael Cassidy and Festo Kivengere lead a week of dual ministry (20,000 people, 17 rallies) in Soweto, Cape Town, Durban, and Pietermaritzburg.
- 12-14 February: First meeting of International Council of African Enterprise, Mombasa, Kenya.
- July: Mission to Imbali and Edendale, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Nico Kleynhans develops a specialised youth evangelism team called “The Ambassadors”.
- Kimberley Mission, South Africa: “Festival of Faith and Fellowship.”
- Land for the African Enterprise Training Centre in Pietermaritzburg is acquired. 28 young people from Kimberley are the first visitors for a time of healing and discipleship.
- The African Enterprise media department takes on a national radio programme in Lesotho.
1981
- African Enterprise launches Evangelism, Reconciliation and Action (ERA) Missions.
- Month-long mission to Kitui, Kenya, led by Gershon Mwiti. 60,000 people reached with the Gospel through word and deed.
- Combined South African and East African team undertake a mission to the Copper Belt in Zambia.
- “Hope ‘81” mission in Windhoek, Namibia.
- African Enterprise missions in Elsie’s River and Fish Hoek in the Western Cape.
- First Bridge Building Encounter weekend at African Enterprise Centre, Pietermaritzburg. 55 youth leaders join the weekend from Elsie’s River. The harmony of the African Enterprise’s multi-racial team makes a deep impact on them.
- 60 evangelists set out to visit 21 Ujamaa villages near Dodoma, Tanzania. 3,000 accept Christ at the closing rally.
- April: By April African Enterprise has doubled its feeding project in Uganda. The programme reaches 20,000 children in 75 schools a day.
- May: African Enterprise launches a Baby Immunisation Project in Kampala.
- September: By September African Enterprise feeds 29,500 children throughout Uganda each day.
- African Enterprise launches, “The Great Shoot Out”, an immunisation programme in Uganda.
- “From Uganda with Love”: East African team visits the UK after the fall of Idi Amin. Festo Kivengere and John Wilson make a deep impact in churches across the UK.
- Mission to Angolan refugees at KwaPitela settlement, South Africa.
1982
- Stephen Lungu joins the African Enterprise team.
- The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa is suspended from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at the 21st General Council meeting in Ottawa. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches declares apartheid as a status confessionis, a belief that its theological justification was a heresy.
- April: Reconciliation Mission to Jerusalem, Nazareth, Haifa, Jericho, Bethlehem and Tel Aviv. African Enterprise team (Michael and Carol Cassidy, David Peters, Abiel Thipanyane, Festo Kivengere, Don Jacobs, Gershon Mwiti, and Stephen Mung’oma) are invited by the United Christian Council of Israel. They minister all over Israel and the West Bank in 93 meetings over 10 days.
- July: Combined African Enterprise team take part in a three-week mission to Mutare (formerly Umtali), Zimbabwe.
- The African Enterprise team has a unique opportunity to preach in India.
- Mission to King William’s Town, South Africa.
- Miraculously a door opens for a mission to Juba, Sudan.
1983
- Michael Cassidy’s book, Bursting the Wineskins, is published.
- Festo Kivengere’s book, Revolutionary Love, is published.
- “Blantyre for Jesus” Mission, Malawi. Eight volunteers post out 8,000 follow-up letters to people who indicated some new form of professed commitment to Christ. Songe Chibambo, and his wife, Lucy, (both volunteers) later join the Malawian team full-time.
- Mission to Umtata, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- Mission to Durban, South Africa.
1984
- Orpheus Hove joins African Enterprise Zimbabwe Team.
- African Enterprise’s Training Centre in Pietermaritzburg becomes fully operational.
- March: African Enterprise’s first Training Programme opens up at the Training Centre in Pietermaritzburg. The courses relate to mission and evangelism.
- 2-6 April: Mediterranean Christian Leadership Assembly, MECLA (Aegina, Greece).
- April: Makerere University in Kampala (Festo Kivengere and the East African Team lead the mission).
- April: James Katarikawe, head of Ugandan team, leads mission to Mbarara.
- June: “Good News to Gweru” Mission, Zimbabwe.
- “Destiny ‘84” Mission to Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Mission to Legislative Assembly of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- African Enterprise Malawi Team established.
- “Good News for Johannesburg” Mission is aimed at the business community. 9,000 Christians involved.
1985
- June: “Top Level Encounter” Mission in Cape Town to leadership and business community.
- September: Mission to Michaelhouse, South Africa.
- September: National Initiative for Reconciliation (NIR) launched by African Enterprise in Pietermaritzburg.
- September: “Fishnet” Citywide Youth Mission to Port Elizabeth.
- Mission to Monrovia: One of the most demanding missions in African Enterprise’s history.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, Chasing the Wind, is published.
- African Enterprise intern programme is given an official name: African Enterprise Project TIM (Training in Mission), under Dennis Bailey.
- 8 October: Michael Cassidy meets with President PW Botha who asks him to call off the “Pray-Away” scheduled for the following day.
- 9 October: African Enterprise’s “Pray Away” goes ahead. Many workers in South Africa stay away from work for the day and pray either at home or with others in churches across the country.
- October: City-wide Pan-African Mission to Dar es Salaam.
- November: “Top Level Encounter” Mission to Harare leadership, Zimbabwe.
- November: “Good News for Harare” Mission.
- December: Mission to leadership in New York, including United Nations Ambassadors. Michael Cassidy joins Brian Gibson, Obed Kunana, a South African newspaper editor, and Nigel Goodwin.
- December: UK Evangelists Conference, Michael Cassidy and Brian Gibson minister.
- African Enterprise Rwanda Team formed. Israel Havugimana leads the team from its conception until his untimely death in 1994.
1986
- 16 March: John Wilson dies at the hands of gunmen in his home country of Uganda while trying to reconcile the warring factions.
- March: The first National Initiative for Reconciliation teams are formed and tour around South Africa. Michael Cassidy is arrested in Serato, Port Elizabeth. New Brighton evangelistic meeting proceeds regardless.
- Taking up the task of nation-wide reconciliation, small teams of reconciled people drawn from all denominations and races criss-cross South Africa with the message of reconciliation.
- The African Enterprise team holds missions in Pinelands in the Western Cape, and KwaMakhutha in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- February: International Team Leader’s Fellowship meet in Harare for one week.
- March: Carmel Prophetic Conference in Israel. The African Enterprise team meet Jack and Marit Garratt who are running the Carmel Centre at the time. The Garratts are invited to join African Enterprise and they do.
- June: Kampala Mission, Uganda. African Enterprise team joined by Victoria Wilson, daughter of John, to make memorial film.
- Major African Enterprise ministry-tour of Australia.
- September: International Team Leader’s Fellowship meet for one week in Lusaka.
- October: Citywide mission to Witbank, South Africa.
- November: Major African Enterprise ministry-tour of USA.
- Mission to Meru, Kenya. 80,000 people hear the Gospel over the course of a week.
- International Partnership Board (IPB) meets in Harare.
- The building of the South African team’s offices is completed.
- Middle East Christian Leadership Assembly (MECLA). African Enterprise sponsors, mediates, and organises meetings held in secret on the island of Aegina. Christian leaders from Israel and eleven Arab nations meet.
- December: Michael Cassidy and David Richardson meet with President Kaunda of Zambia, plus African National Congress (ANC) exiles in Lusaka, including Thabo Mbeki, later President of South Africa.
1987
- Edward Muhima joins the African Enterprise team in Uganda.
- March: In UK, at the Jubilee Centre, Cambridge, Michael Cassidy meets in secret with a South African/UK “Think-Tank”. Michael meets Washington Okumu who later plays a major role in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.
- May: “Lilongwe for Jesus” Mission in Malawi.
- African Enterprise launches its two formal training programmes in South Africa, a Certificate in Mission and Ministry and a Diploma in Missiology.
1988
- 29 February: Alpheus Zulu dies.
- March: The “Mamelodi Encounter” is launched (organised by Nico Smith and African Enterprise).
- 18 May: Bishop Festo Kivengere dies of leukemia and is given a state funeral in Uganda.
- Edward Muhima becomes Team Leader of the African Enterprise Uganda team.
- Gresford Chitema succeeds Bishop Festo Kivengere as East African Team Leader.
- Two major regional missions to Kigali, Rwanda.
- Mission to Mzimba, Malawi.
- June: Australian church leaders (under Archbishop David Penman) tour South Africa, organised by African Enterprise.
- July: Michael Cassidy attends another conference at the Jubilee Centre in the UK.
- 31 July – 14 August: “Manzini for Jesus” Mission in Swaziland.
- August: John Stott– ministry tour to South Africa under the auspices of African Enterprise.
- October: Ugandan team of more than 100 evangelists, led by Edward Muhima, ministers in Jinga, Uganda.
- December: Charlie Bester (Michael Cassidy’s nephew), an intern at African Enterprise at the time, refused to join the South African Defence Force (SADF) when summoned for his year of service. The consequence of this decision is a six-year prison sentence. Charlie serves twenty months before being released by a ruling of both President de Klerk and the Appellate Division of the South African Supreme Court.
- The Cost of Reconciliation in South Africa is published (edited by Klaus Nürnberger and John Tooke).
1989
- Kigali Regional Mission, Rwanda: The East African team speaks to tens of thousands of people in a mixture of large public evangelistic meetings and smaller meetings throughout the city.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, The Passing Summer is published.
- May/June: “Lusaka Back to God” Mission, Zambia. In many early African Enterprise missions, like this one, house to house visitation was an integral component and many were led to Christ through this.
- July: African Enterprise team members attend Lausanne II in Manilla.
- October: USA/Canada ministry tours.
- African Enterprise Support Office in Canada employs its first full-time staff members.
1990
- January: USA/Canada ministry tours.
- Mission to Mbabane, Swaziland.
- 11 February: Nelson Mandela is released from prison. Liberation Movements (including the South African Communist Party) are unbanned. Political life in South Africa begins to normalise.
- July: Michael Cassidy and Bishop Mvume Dandala attend the OASE Renewal Conference in Norway.
- August: North American Renewal Conference, Indianapolis.
- September: Evangelism, Reconciliation, Action (ERA) mission in Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal.
- September: Mission to St Anne’s School, Hilton, South Africa.
- October: City-wide mission to Nairobi, Kenya.
- 5-9 November: Rustenburg National Conference of Church Leaders in South Africa meets with the goal of working “towards a united Christian witness in a changing South Africa”.
- November: “Gabarone for Jesus”, Botswana. Teams from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Swaziland come together.
- By 1990 Bonginkosi feeding scheme is providing 10,500 children a day in 51 schools throughout South Africa with a cup of protein-enriched soup and a thick slice of bread. The ministry extends to providing health care, blankets and clothes, skills development, and wherever possible the Gospel is proclaimed.
- Mission to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
1991
- February: Mission to St Johns College, Johannesburg.
- May/June: Ministry tours in Australia and New Zealand.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, The Politics of Love, is published.
- Orpheus Hove becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise Zimbabwe (until 2001). During this time he also becomes one of African Enterprise’s deputy International Team Leaders.
- Dar es Salaam “Back to God” Mission in Tanzania.
- David Richardson, Pan-African Missions Director as well as Missions Director for the South African team, goes back to Canada to head up the African Enterprise Support Office in Canada. Douglas Nsibandzi (from Swaziland) takes over this position for six months until he returns to Swaziland.
- Autumn: Bulawayo Mission, Zimbabwe.
- September: Mission to St Anne’s School, Hilton, South Africa.
- First course in the Diploma in Social Empowerment and Development is completed by eight students in South Africa.
- Democratic Vision of South Africa is published by African Enterprise (edited by Klaus Nürnberger and John Tooke).
- October: Ministry-tour in Switzerland.
- Mission to Zomba, Malawi.
1992
- February: Second Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly (PACLA II) in Nairobi, Kenya.
- African Enterprise calls on the churches for a chain of intercessory prayer, non-stop, day and night, for two years in the lead up to the first democratic elections in South Africa.
- August: Harambee ’92 (30th Anniversary of the African Enterprise ministry).
- “From Africa with Love”: African Enterprise team visits the major political groups and leaders in South Africa to pray with them.
- October: Michael Cassidy speaks to leaders in Madam Speaker’s Lounge in the House of Commons, London.
- October: Sadleir lectures on John 17 by Michael Cassidy at John Wycliffe Theological College, Toronto, Canada.
- December: First “Kolobe Lodge Dialogue Weekend” launched by Michael Cassidy. Between 1992 and 1993 a series of six of these dialogue weekends are held.
1993
- March: Mission to Sea Point, Cape Town.
- March: European Leader’s Conference at Windsor Castle, UK.
- May: New Providence (New Jersey) Renewal Conference.
- June: “Kolobe Lodge Dialogue Weekends” with political leaders from across the spectrum.
- August: Leadership mission to Durban.
- August: “Kolobe Lodge Dialogue Weekend”.
- September: Zimbabwe Church Leaders’ Dialogue Weekend at Lake Kariba.
- October and November: Two more “Kolobe Lodge Dialogue weekends”.
- November: Michael Cassidy speaks at a conference in Darwin, Australia.
1994
- 5,000 present at the Natal Political Leaders Forum in Durban, organised by African Enterprise.
- Team Leader of African Enterprise Rwanda (1984 – 1994), Israel Havugimana, and his family, are killed in the Rwandan genocide.
- 17 April: “Jesus Peace Rally” takes place at Kings Park Stadium, Durban, South Africa.
- 19 April: Historic election breakthrough in South Africa announced by President De Klerk, Nelson Mandela, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi. African Enterprise has a special thanksgiving service.
- 27 April: First democratic election in South Africa (with universal adult suffrage).
- May: USA ministry tours.
- With Burundi and Rwanda still torn apart by tribal conflict and deep civil strife between Hutu and Tutsi, reconciliation ministries are spearheaded by Emmanuel Kopwe.
- Ministry to the escapees from the Burundian killing fields at Urubanda Refugee Camp in Southern Rwanda, a few miles from the Burundi border. 23,000 Burundian refugees find refuge in this camp, half of them under ten years old, most of them orphans. African Enterprise joins the Red Cross and others, under the leadership of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, in an effort to feed these people. African Enterprise provides ten tons of rice and beans three times a week.
- September: Pretoria/Midrand Mission.
- October: “Harare for Jesus” Mission, Zimbabwe. Ernie Smith and Udo Krueger’s legendary mission set-up produces a staggering 996 meetings for the team to tackle in ten days, almost a hundred per day. One of these meetings was a Presidential Prayer Breakfast for President Mugabe and his cabinet and some 200 other leaders.
- South African team adapts the Zimbabwean Foxfire model (primarily rural) for the urban centres and schools of South Africa.
- November: Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly (PACLA) II, Nairobi, Kenya.
1995
- The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA) founded and Michael Cassidy is appointed as Vice-Chairman.
- Rukungiri Town Mission, Uganda: During this mission a man from the crowd came to Festo Kivengere with an unusual story. “I must tell you brother, until I came by here today, and heard you speak, I was planning to have an enemy of mine killed. I have already made arrangements with the gunman. Now I can forgive my enemy. I will go and tell him this. Please pray that I can also find this gunman, and stop him.”
- 23 July-1 August: Kigali Mission, Rwanda. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Michael Cassidy visit Ntarama, outside Kigali, Rwanda, and see the evidence of brutality. Scores of sculls and macheted limbs were piled high to the roof in this horrific genocide site.
- 24 September: Launch of Nakuru Mission, Kenya. Led by Rev Stephen Mbogo (Mission Co-ordinator and Kenyan Team Leader at the time). About 5,000 people gathered at Afraha Stadium for the opening ceremony.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, A Witness Forever, is published.
- Malcolm Graham takes over the running of African Enterprise’s USA Support Office.
- The Lord’s Counselling Room (later called the Lord’s Caring Centre) opens in a shopping arcade in Pietermaritzburg city centre under David Peters. From the Lord’s Caring Centre a team carried out daily ministries around the city in businesses, offices, municipal buildings, factories, and on farms.
- October: In celebration of the 40th anniversary of his conversion, Michael Cassidy visits five South African cities in a tour called “Faithful Friend of Forty Years”, speaking on conversion.
- November: African Enterprise reconciliation ministry in Northern Ireland.
- December: Addis Ababa Mission, Ethiopia. 300,000 people attend the closing rally on a racecourse where Stephen Lungu preaches. 5,000 respond to the Gospel message.
- African Enterprise Ethiopian Team is established.
- The first African Enterprise team in the DRC is formed with Rev Phambu-Lelokatunguka Babaka as its first Team Leader.
- Edward Muhima succeeds Bishop Gresford Chitemo as East African Team Leader.
- African Enterprise develops a mission statement and 10 core non-negotiable commitments on the aims of the ministry. These were later consolidated into four, but keeping all the core commitments of the original.
1996
- “Pig Project” is started in Democratic Republic of Congo.
- February: Burundi Peace Conference.
- March: Pretoria Mission, South Africa.
- March: Citywide mission to Kampala, Uganda.
- April: KwaZulu-Natal Christian Leadership Assembly (KWACLA).
- Project “Ukuthula” (Zulu for “Peace”) is launched in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- Michael Cassidy speaks at Promise Keepers, USA.
- September: Johannesburg Leadership Mission.
- November: “Jimma for Jesus” citywide mission, Ethiopia (also Debrezeit and Nazareth).
1997
- February: Citywide mission to Accra, Ghana.
- February: Missions to King William’s Town and Bishu, South Africa.
- April: Newcastle citywide mission.
- May: Michael Cassidy on ministry tours in Switzerland and Germany.
- June: Michael Cassidy and Malcolm Graham at Knoxville Promise Keepers (42,000 present).
- June: Michael Cassidy speaks at the Promise Keepers rally in Charlotte, North Carolina (52,000 men attended) and then at Soldier’s Field, Chicago (72,000 present, 16,000 respond to the Gospel message).
- African Enterprise’s first female team leader is appointed in Tanzania. Grace Kalambo, “Amazing Grace” as she was affectionately known, in her ministry with African Enterprise, saw thousands of people come to Christ.
- 26 July: Israel Havugimana’s funeral takes place (his body had been kept since 1994 for a proper burial).
- August: Michael Cassidy attends Family Conference in Northern Ireland.
- August: King William’s Town Leadership Mission, South Africa.
- September: Michael Cassidy and Emmanuel Kopwe speak at “Reconciliation ’97 Conference” in Coventry, UK.
- October: Michael Cassidy ministry tour in Australia.
- October: Michael Cassidy speaks at a United Ireland Prayer Breakfast for political and church leaders. This included Protestants and Catholics (including Cardinal Daley) from Northern and Southern Ireland (Dundalk). Michael Cassidy speaks on Jeremiah 29:11-12, “A Future and a Hope.” Said Michael and Carol, “We never saw so many politicians weeping.”
1998
- February: Pietermaritzburg Leadership Mission, South Africa.
- March: Plettenberg Bay Weekend Mission, South Africa.
- May: Mini-missions in Richmond, Ixopo, and Soshanguve, Pretoria.
- May: Sandton (Johannesburg) Leadership Outreach.
- June: Richmond, Peace Initiative.
- Rustenberg Conference II.
- Stephen Lungu became one of African Enterprise’s four Deputy International Team Leaders in addition to his role as Team Leader in Malawi.
- Mission to West Coast University, Ghana.
- Very difficult mission in Luanda, Angola, but Emmanuel Kopwe’s reconciliation seminars are a great success.
- Greg Smerdon as Foxfire Director in South Africa takes the ministry to new heights.
- July: Michael Cassidy is one of the speakers at a two-week long Oxbridge Conference in celebration of the “Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of CS Lewis” in England.
- 13 October: The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa renounce apartheid as a sin at their general synod. As a result they are invited to re-join the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC).
- African Enterprise’s formal Senior’s Ministry is launched under Ralph Jarvis.
- Mission to the Village of Happiness, Margate, South Africa (mission programme for the elderly).
- Michael Cassidy, Emmanuel Kopwe and Olave Snelling lead a mission to the leadership circles of Brussels in Belgium (European Parliament, NATO, business sector, refugees, and European Commission).
1999
- Pan-African Mission to Egypt.
- African Enterprise International Partnership Board meeting takes place in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar.
- Edward and Vasta Muhima and Michael Cassidy conduct a Reconciliation Conference in Gisborne, New Zealand, for Maoris and Pakeha (whites).
2000
- Nteme Ntema Nico becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise DRC.
- April: Michael speaks at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Mission’s Conference.
- May: Mission to Michaelhouse.
- June: Winter school at African Enterprise South Africa on preaching.
- August: African Enterprise evangelists attend Billy Graham Evangelists Conference in Amsterdam.
- September: Michael speaks at “The Gathering” in Washington DC.
- November: African Enterprise Europe Mission to leadership and diplomatic community of Brussels.
2001
- Two members of the African Enterprise Rwanda team, plus Rhiannon Lloyd, lead a Healing and Reconciliation Seminar to the Rwandese refugees in Brussels.
- February: “Operation Seedbed”, major Pan-African African Enterprise Team Training project at African Enterprise Centre.
- Stephen Lungu’s book, Out of the Black Shadows, is published.
- Pan-African Mission to Egypt, Cairo.
2002
- Anne Coomes’ book, African Harvest, is published.
- Mark Manley becomes African Enterprise South Africa’s Team Leader.
- Simukayi Mutamangira becomes African Enterprise Zimbabwe’s Team Leader.
- May: Michael Cassidy preaches at Newlands Rugby Stadium, Cape Town, for the Transformation Prayer Movement. This takes place on the Day of Pentecost and is shown in eight stadiums (330,000 people) across South Africa.
- Mission to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
2003
- January: Conference of South African Evangelists at African Enterprise.
- February – June: Preparations for South African Christian Leadership Assembly II (SACLA II).
- SACLA II (South African Christian Leadership Assembly): “To discern and act together on what it means according to the scriptures to be witnesses to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord in South Africa today. We will also be seeking to look under the guidance of the Holy Spirit at seven of the great giants facing our nation at this time in terms of HIV/AIDS, Crime and Corruption, Violence, Poverty and Unemployment, Sexism, Racism, and the Crisis in the South African Family.”
- August: Citywide mission to Grahamstown, South Africa.
- September: Leadership Mission to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
- November: Marriage Alliance of South Africa (MASA) formed under Chairmanship of Michael Cassidy.
- November: Mission to European Union, European Commission and Diplomatic Leaders, Brussels. Lynn Nwagbara says, “In November 2003 a team of six African Enterprise evangelists led a mission to Belgium. The team was Michael Cassidy, Gottfried Osei-Mensah, Antoine Rutayisire, Stephen Mbogo, Stephen Lungu, and Olave Snelling. Stephen Lungu went down with a bout of malaria but thankfully was well enough to share his testimony at the closing meeting on the Sunday evening.”
- December: Citywide mission to Khartoum, Sudan.
2004
- February: Michael Cassidy attends National Presidential Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC.
- March: Pan-African mission to Alexandria, Egypt.
- May: Ministry tour to Australia.
- July: Citywide mission to Kigali, Rwanda.
- August: Michael Cassidy speaker at New Wine Conference, United Kingdom.
- October: Citywide Pan-African mission to Kinshasa, Congo.
2005
- Miyimi Hubert becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise Democratic Republic of Congo.
- January: Michael Cassidy attends the inauguration of George Bush in Washington DC.
- February: Michael Cassidy attends National Presidential Prayer Breakfast.
- April: Franshoek Mission, South Africa.
- May: Marriage Alliance of South Africa loses court case in Johannesburg on Same-Sex Marriage.
- June: South African Evangelists Conference at African Enterprise Centre, South Africa.
- August: Michael Cassidy is a speaker at East Africa Revival Convention, Kigezi (Kabale).
- Citywide mission to Antananarivo, Madagascar.
2006
- Michael Cassidy’s book, Thinking Things Through (Christian Reflections on Some Contemporary Ethical Issues), is published.
- February/March: Leadership Mission to Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- May: Ministry tour to Australia.
- July: Mission to Soweto, South Africa.
- August: Mission to Rhodes University, South Africa.
- September: Leadership Mission in Lilongwe, Malawi.
2007
- Leonard Kiswangi becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise DRC.
- February/ March: Michael Cassidy goes on an African Enterprise ministry tour to the United States of America.
- March: Fundraising consultation with consultant Roger Mitty, at African Enterprise South Africa Centre, Pietermaritzburg.
- June: Planning for Lausanne III in Budapest, Michael and Carol Cassidy present.
- August: Wits University Mission.
- September: Lilongwe Citywide Mission.
- October: Lausanne III planning week in Cape Town.
2008
- March: Evangelism Course at African Enterprise South Africa, led by Michael Cassidy.
- May: National Initiative for Reformation in South Africa (NIRSA) Declaration finalised.
- May: Michael Cassidy goes on an African Enterprise ministry tour to Australia.
- African Enterprise Healing and Reconciliation workshops in Bujumbura, Burundi: Charles Gashahu and Gilbertine Harerimana were participants in these workshops. Charles is a Hutu man and Gilbertine is a Tutsi woman. They both attended the workshop harbouring bitterness towards the other ethnic group due to the loss of family and other experiences during the civil war. During the workshop they were healed of their emotional wounds, repented of their unforgiveness, and built a friendship. Over the ensuing months they spent time together and decided to marry. They have since given birth to a son whom they affectionately call “Mister Reconciliation”, and have continued sharing their story and ministering reconciliation to many others around Burundi through their ministry “Reconciliation Christian Ministries and Development” (RCMD Burundi).
2009
- March: National Initiative for Reformation in South Africa (NIRSA) National Day of Prayer, South Africa.
2010
- “Juba for Jesus” Mission, Sudan: African Enterprise’s work to rebuild Juba for Christ is based on Nehemiah 2:18, which says, “Let us start rebuilding.” Through Trauma Healing and Reconciliation workshops, pastors are empowered to offer hope and a new way of living to their parishioners, and small teams of local evangelists are trained to work throughout the city in stratified evangelism.
- Maluku and Kikwit missions in Democratic Republic of Congo.
- September: Michael Cassidy launches his first Barnabas Mentoring Groups with young Christian leaders across South Africa. The groups meet in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, East London, George, and Port Elizabeth. The first meeting takes place on 2 September in Johannesburg.
- September: Christians for Peace in Africa Conference takes place at African Enterprise, South Africa.
- 16-25 October: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation is held in Cape Town, South Africa.
- November: Jean van Rensburg dies (Prayer Coordinator of African Enterprise South Africa).
- Miles Giljam becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise South Africa.
2011
- September: Mission Setup Director, Udo Krueger, dies.
- Pan-African Mission to Maputo, Mozambique.
2012
- Michael Cassidy made Honorary Chairman of the Lausanne Movement for World Evangelism, succeeding the late John Stott.
- June/July: Michael and Carol Cassidy go on a ministry tour with Support Office in Australia.
- July: Michael and Carol Cassidy are involved in ministry to Methodist Church Leadership in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).
- August: Pan-African Mission to Pietermaritzburg.
- August: African Enterprise’s Jubilee celebrations take place in Pietermaritzburg.
- August: Michael Cassidy ministers at Centenary Convention of Kampala Diocese.
- Michael receives Distinguished Alumni Award for 2012 from Fuller Theological Seminary.
- October: Michael Cassidy goes on a ministry tour to Support Offices in USA and Canada.
- November: Michael Cassidy goes on a ministry tour to Support Offices in Belgium, Ireland and England.
- Michael Cassidy’s book, The Church Jesus Prayed For, is published.
- December: Stephen Lungu retires from his position with African Enterprise as International Team Leader. He continues as Global Ambassador for the ministry.
2013
- January: Stephen Mbogo becomes International Team Leader of African Enterprise.
- John Richards becomes African Enterprise’s Chief Operations Officer.
- Mission to Kinshasa Centre in Democratic Republic of Congo.
- May: New Barnabas Mentoring Group formed in Bloemfontein.
- June: Stephen Mbogo, Mel Mesfin and Michael Cassidy attend the Lausanne Global Leadership Forum in Bangalore, India.
- October: Most of African Enterprise South Africa team retrenched including Team Leader. Michael Cassidy (coming out of retirement) and South African Board asked to lead the team.
- October: Evangelistic mission to Charleroi, Belgium) with Stephen Lungu. Lynn Nwagbara (African Enterprise Europe Director): “One evening some local gang members recognised Stephen (from the posters put up around town) in our car on the way to the venue where he was speaking. They followed us there. They came in and heard Stephen’s testimony and one of them committed their life to the Lord.”
2014
- African Enterprise Leadership Mission, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
- Matadi Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo.
2015
- April/May: Science and Faith Summits, Waterberg, South Africa.
- International mission: Eldoret Citywide Mission, Kenya.
- Mbale Mission, Uganda.
- Kinshasa University Mission, Democratic Republic of Congo.
- July: Major retrenchments at the African Enterprise South Africa Training Centre.
- August: Switched On Citywide Mission in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- September: Pan-African Harare Leadership Initiative, Zimbabwe.
2016
- March: Evangelistic mission with Stephen Lungu and Emmanuel Kwizera to Strasbourg, France, including meetings in the north and south of the region plus a meeting in the European parliament.
- 6 July: Rev Dr John Senyonyi from Uganda becomes African Enterprise International Board Chairman.
- 18-25 September: Turn on the Power Mission, Livingstone, Zambia.
- October: Kumasi Citywide Mission.
2017
- Michael and Carol Cassidy attend European Leaders Forum in Poland. Michael does a number of talks.
- July: Benson Omondi becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise Kenya.
- July: Michael Macha becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise Tanzania.
- 1 August: Theuns Pauw becomes Team Leader of African Enterprise South Africa.
2018
- Lubumbashi University Mission, Democratic Republic of Congo.